It’s not a resort, it would be wrong to call it that. It’s a village, really. It’s a home away from home. The earth feels warm, the white clouds come by to say hello every now and then, only to disappear in a minute, the birds tell stories and the food tastes of love.

Leave the windows open at night and the clouds will hug you awake the next morning. And if there’s anything that makes the pristine view more beautiful other than the sound of a river gushing down the valley far below, it’s the faint call of a barking deer hidden somewhere in the forests. Or if you’re lucky, you might even spot red bear cats while hiking!

Time doesn’t stand still at The Goat Village. It turns back, almost literally. One of the first things you notice about this place, apart from the fact that its breathtakingly beautiful, is that it has no electricity. There’s very little network coverage on mobile phones too. It’s just you, the sky, the sun, the earth, the wind and your soul. And silence. The sweet silence of being alive. So, it wouldn’t be wrong to say it transports you back to those times when we humans hadn’t ruined it all, when the only way to communicate with people was to sit and talk over a cup of ‘ pudina cha’ (mint tea in Garhwali). What starts as a disappointment for city dwellers ends up in a life-altering experience.

It reminds you of how rich the village lifestyle actually is. There’s no wealth that can match up to the simplest, most beautiful things in life, like sitting on those pathways lined with slate, watching the setting sun light the sky on fire as the clouds still hover around, as if telling you everything you’ve wanted to know about yourself. It takes you away from the world of technology, smartphones and laptops and urges you to walk down that trail, or make one of your own, for every one of them ends up in a surprise you wouldn’t want to forget!

Started by a group called Green People, The Goat Village overlooks big corn fields and the ‘dadis’ harvesting their crops are always kind enough to invite you into their little chhaanis (mud houses) to have freshly harvested makka (corn) and a piping hot glass of pure buffalo milk!

The experimental Garhwali cuisine offers some scrumptious local food made out of homegrown cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, broccoli, cabbage, capsicum, corn, peas, seasonal strawberries and mandua! This not only gives employment opportunities to the locals but also makes the food as authentic as it gets.

A goat shelter is an integral part of any village in Garhwal, for meat. TGV is trying to change that. Goats are reared here so that their milk and other milk products like goat cheese can be sold off under the brand of ‘Bakri Chhap’.

A photo posted by Green People (@we_greenpeople) on Aug 10, 2016 at 11:23pm PDT

“We don't want it to develop into a tourism industry. It's not a resort. We are going back to the roots. We are trying to uplift the economy of local villages by preserving the micro culture of Uttarakhand. We are trying to rehabilitate old, abandoned villages around Uttarakhand. The motto is to make farmers comfortable with the idea of farming. It's not an inferior job. Growing food is a beautiful thing. It’s most basic necessity in the world. We're trying to educate the locals about the growing need of organic farming. We want the people who’ve left their villages to earn bread in the cities to want to come back. We want them to see what the cities are missing - the quality of life is much richer here. We're trying to reverse the trend of migration from villages to cities. The locals don't need to leave their land to earn a livelihood, we'll bring people here to make sure they have a comfortable life ahead! This is our home and it’s calling us”, says the Guest Village Manager Mani Mahesh Arora.

A photo posted by Green People (@we_greenpeople) on Jan 25, 2016 at 11:23pm PST

The staffers are so friendly, you’ll find yourself addressing them by ‘dada’, ‘mama’, ‘bhaiji’ and ‘bhulla’! They’ll tell you folklore and things about cities that you’ve never realized despite living in them.

They’ll say things in their own language that you won’t understand but your heart will.

You don’t stay at The Goats Village, you live there. The wind is pure, the clouds unpredictable, the grass lush green, the stone cold, the earth warm, and life simple. There’s something the cities are lacking and you’ll find them here.